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Last week I had an experience that now in retrospect is worth drawing some meaning out of spiritually. My wife, mother-in-law, and I went to a Minnesota suburb on the other side of town known for antique shops. My wife and mother-in-law definitely enjoy shopping and have wanted to go visit this town for a few years. Well, we visited the town last week and my wife and mother-in-law did some checking out assorted shops. One shop the stopped by and found some cheap jewelry and assorted trinkets that caught their attention. They spent a lot of time in the store, when I first entered the store nothing immediately caught my attention other then some unual odds and ends that definitely were of the world, like items with peace sign logos, but nothing that triggered immediate alarm bells. However, there was a downstairs portion to the store. In the downstairs section, I noticed some crystal necklaces that began to point me to reasons for concern. I started paying more attention to the items in the store. I noticed they were selling rune stones right night to the crystal necklaces. I noticed a sign on the wall that stated “The witch is in.” I began looking at that assorted stones and beads in the store and found that assorted beads or stones had directions as to things they can help or aide a person with. The store additionally had a real musty smell and the music playing was clearly of new age/meditative variety. I eventually had to get out of the store. Now, sadly I should have informed my loved ones of my concerns, but rather I retreated and waited for them to conduct their business. They had not noticed any of the things that I had become alerted to in that store.

The point of this story is really an illustration for how we can fail to see the evil around us. We can easily get distracted by our own interests or the attractive things around us that we fail to see what is right in front of us. We often go about blinded to the evil. And sometimes, even when we are aware, or become aware, we really do not want to believe it. In the store, the first inclination was to dismiss various items as irrelevant, or inconsequential. However, that store was a place of deep darkness and even upon leaving the store felt overall concern related to spiritual roots of the town.

The lesson to be learned here, is we need to open our eyes, ears, and heart to God’s truth. We need to let God alert us to what is around. Also we need to examine our-self to see if we are letting what we enjoy or are attracted to blind us to evil. We also need not to be afraid of the evil and darkness, for it is all around us. We simply become accustomed to the darkness that exists and forgot that we are the ones bringing light into the darkness. And ultimately, we need to know that the kingdom of this world and the powers of darkness are defeated and their time is short.

Jesus defeated the powers of darkness at the cross, and while darkness is all around us, the victory has been won. Jesus is the way out of the darknes, He is the true light of the world. Only Jesus can really open our eyes to see what we are blind to and take us out of the darkness which is energized by our own selfishness.